Gearing.



A. N. ADAMS. f

GEARING.

ArPLIoATIoN HLBD 9110.284908.

Patented July 6, 1909. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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GEARING.

` APPLICATION TILED D110. 28, 1908. 926,919. Patented July 6, 1909.

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SH01/nut A. N. ADAMS.

GEABING.

v APPLICATION FILED DEO. 28,1908. I 926,91 9, Patented 6, 1909. 3 BH S-BHEET 3.

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ALFRED N. ADAMS, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

GEABING.,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July e, 1909.

Application filed December 28, 1908. Serial No. 489,516.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFREDN. ADAMS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful 1m rovements in Gearings, of which the followlng is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in Yearings, and has for its object the provision of a driving gear for use in connection with the driven gear of a swinging or sliding shaft or axle, and means for causing the rotatable movement, in either direction, of such driven gear by the continued rotation, in asingle direction, of a driving shaft.

The invention includes a gear comprising a plurality of gear wheels, each of different diameters and different numbered cogs, these gear wheels being mounted end-to-end upon a shaft having stationary bearings, for use to drive a single gear, the shaft of which is pivotally mounted between its ends.

The herein described gearing may be appliedto various uses, but is particularly of advantage in connection with vehicles, where forward and rearward movements are re uired, as Well as movement upon curves.

he novel features of the invention are fully described herein and in the appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a vehicle frame with a gearing mounted thereon embodying my invention, the controlling rods for the slidable adjusting-keys, and for the steering devices being in section. Fig. 2 is a broken away plan or side view in section of a driven gear, and a driving gear, one of the gear wheels of the driving gear, the slidable adlusting-key and a part of the driving-shaft eing in section. die. 3 is a plan or side view of a part of a driving-shaft and a slidable adjusting-key, Fig. 4 is an end view of one of the gear-Wheels shown in Fig. 2, and showing a drum mounted therein, the shaft or axle bein in section. Fig. 5 is a sectional view o the gear wheel shown in Fig.` 4.

Fi 6 is a side view of a vehicle axle, with a ve lcle wheel mounted thereon, the frame,4

bearings and the driven gear being in section. Fig. 7 is a plan or side view showing the newly invented caring used in connection with a slidable s aft with gearing thereon, introduced to show a modified use of the invention.

Referring now to the drawing, which illustrates one of the uses to which the invention may be a plied, numeral 1 indicates a rectangular velue-le frame, comprising side plates 2, and end plates 3.

Numerals 4 and 5 indicate the rear wheels, and at 6 and 7 are shown the front wheels of the vehicle, each ofthe wheels having a short axle 8 rigidly mounted thereon, and

provided with a driven gear wheel 9 mounted upon its inner end, the axle having a pivotal mounting upon the side plate by means of bolt 10, whereby, under control of a driver or operator, the axles may be moved circularly on a horizontal plane to cause an operative movement of the wheels upon the are of a circle, the center of such arc being the pivot or bolt 10, gear wheels 9 swinging, of course, in the o posite direction.

As a controlfbr moving the wheels of the vehicle, as when describing curves, I have shown devices consisting of the pair of guidearms 11 mounted upon the rear axles, and guidearms 12 mounted upon the front axles. Each of guide arms 11 and 12 is provided at one of its ends with a sleeve or head 13 mounted upon the axle, within which the axle may rotate. Arms 11 and 12 are disposed substantially at right angles with the axles and they are parallel with the wheel tires.

At 14 is shown the bracing-rod having its ends secured to the inner terminals of arms 11, this rod being for the purpose of bearing the stresses, in a measure, which come upon arms 11.

At 15 is shown a bracing-rod having its ends secured to the inner terminals of arms 12, this rodv being for the same purpose as rod 14, and constructed in all respects simi lar, except it is rovided with the rack 16, in engagementwitlh gear 17. Links 19 and 20 are employed, each having a front end pivotally mounted at 18 upon one of arms 12, these links being disposed to extend diagonally below the lane of power wheel 21, their opposite ends aving pivotal mountings at 22 upon the ends of arms 11'.

As thus described, a driver, by partly rotating operating-bar 23, secured to gear 17, as a steering means, may cause a swinging movement of allof the axles, and may cause a movement, in unison, of all of the vehicle wheels for turning curves, as is apparent.

l provide driving-shafts 24, 25, 26 and 27, suitably mounted upon the frame, by brackets 28 secured to slde-plates 2, and having and 33, wheel33 having a greaterdiameter than wheel 32, and wheel 31 havin a lesser diameter than wheel 32, and, as be seen, the construction is such that when axles 8 have swinging movements, as when the vehicle is moving to describe a curve, gears 9 v may engage any of gear wheels 31, 32 or 33, since they are mounted upon the orbital plane traversed by the driven gear 9, and it will be seen that, although these gear wheels 'have different numbers of cogs, the construction of these gear wheels is such that the cogs of gear 9 will mesh with any of them, without breaking or injuring the teeth or cogs of said gear-wheels. v

Power wheel 21 is mounted upon shaft 34, this shaft having suitable bearlngs in sideplates 2, and provided with gears 35 adapted to mesh with gears 36, said gears 36 being mounted upon the inner ends of shafts 24, 25, 26 and 27. Wheel 21 may be actuated in any suitable manner, by any suitable force, and as will be seen by an inspection of Fig. 1, a rotation of this wheel in one direction will normally cause a rotation of all of the vehicle wheels to move the vehicle forwardly; and a reverse rotation of wheel 21, will cause a reverse rotation of the vehicle wheels to move the vehicle rearwardly.

Since the teeth or cogs of gear wheels 31, 32 and 33 must mesh with the cogs of e'ar 9, they are of uniform size, but since the iameters of the wheels of gears 30 differ as well as the numbers of their cogs, as com ared with each other, and since the cogs of) gear 9 may be in mesh with two of the gear wheels of gear 30 at the same time, means are empl'oyed whereby any wheel of gear 30 having a lesser diameter, may have a rotatable movement upon the l'shaft slightly greater than the adjacent gear wheel of greater diameter, and these means will be presently explained.

It has been mentioned that, during the swinging movement of axle 8, gear 9 may engage anyof gears 31 ,'32 and 33, and since said gears are disposed closely adjacent, end-toend, it is apparent that the engagement may be co-incident of gear 9 with two of the wheels of gear 30, as mentioned, and in order that the teeth of gear 9, during operation, will pass into engagement with any and all of the teeth of gear Wheels 31, 32 and 33, gears 31 and 32 are formed with an annular reces's37. The teeth of these wheelsv are formed flaring, or longitudinally inclined, so

. periphery,

that one end of each gear wheel has a less 'i Each drum 38 is formed with a recess 39 opening upon one of itsends, a part of its and openingupon the shaft aperture 40. j y

While gear Wheels 31 and 32 and the drums therein are seated upon the shaft, they are not secured thereon, but certain locking means are em loyed whereby each drum may be secure to the shaft, these means comprising the rock-lever 41` seated in recess 39 and pivotally mounted by bolt 42. Lever 41 has arms 43 and 44 pivotally mounted at 45 upon the body of the lever, and resiliently actuated by springs 46. The drums are also secured to the means of holding-bars 72 seated in radial apertures 73 of the drums and extended to seatings within the shaft.

Lever 41 is provided with a projection or index 47 extending transversely from its lower end to a seating within one of slots 48, said slots 48 bein formed to extend da onally in the silda le adjusting key 49, t is adjusting key being seated in the longitudinal slot 50 of each of driving-shafts 24, 25, 26 and 27. Upon the transverse wall 51 of recess 37 of gear-wheels 31 and 32 are formed a series of recesses 52 which extend outwardly of recess 37 to form projections or lugs 53, and within recesses 52 may be seated the resiliently actuated arm 43 and 1 provide a series of recesses 54, extending outwardly of said recess 37 to form projections or lugs 55, and within any of recesses 54 may be seated arm 44.

On account of the operation of springs 46, `arms 43 and 44 are forced outwardly of the drum to cause the terminals of said arms to pass within recesses 52 and 54. It is apparent, however, by an ins ection of Fig. 4, that while arm 43 is seatedpwithin recess 52 the gear may rotate u on the drum in a direction indicated by tiie arrow, and a rotation in an opposite direction of said gear would be prevented, since the extended arm 43 would engage lug 53, being forced to that position by its spring; and likewise, if arm 44 was seated within recess 54, it is obvious that the gear could be rotated upon the drum in a direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow, and a reverse rotation would be prevented, since it would be held by lug 55.

Each of gear-wheels 31 and 32 is provided with drums of identical construction. Gear 33, however, has no drum, and may be rigidly secured upon the shaft.

A controlling means is provided for each of adjusting keys 49, whereby they may have slidable movements in unison, longitushaft byv dinally upon driving shafts 24, 25, 26 and 27, said means coin )rising links 56 disposed transversely near t e ends of frame 1 and having terminal collars or clips 57 inclosing said shafts, these collars being seated between rojeetions or lugs 59 upon the outer ends o keys 49. I providc links 6() and 61 disposed longitudinally of frame 1, each having an end mounting 62 upon one of the transverse links 56, their opposite ends being mounted upon theends ofy rock-bar 63.

'lhis rock-bar is provided with the upwardlyextending operating rod 64, andby an inspection of Fig. 1 it`will be seen that the driver or operator by partly rotating rod 64, may cause an outwarc movement, in unison, of all of keys 49; 4and by rotating operatingrod 64 in the opposite direction, keys 49 ma be moved inwardly of the shafts upon which they are mounted.

Slots 48 are formed to extend diagonally with reference to the longitudinal bodies of keys 49, and when these keys are moved inwardly, indexes 47 of rock-levers 41 will be moved or swung sidewise, thereby causing arm 44 to be Withdrawn or to move inwardly of the drum, and arm'43, by reason of itsy spring 46 will move outwardly of recess 39 and will enter recess 52 of the gear. And when o erating rod 64 is rotated in an o posite irection, adjusting keys 49 will e drawn outwardly of the driving shafts, and thereby will cause indexes' 47 to be swung oppositely, and arms 43 will thereby be withdrawn from recesses 52, and arms 44 will enter recesses 54.

The control just described is employed only for engagement of arms 43 or 44 within recesses 52 and 54 at the time a reverse movement is desired of the vehicle, when backing" the vehicle or for moving forwardly. For moving the vehicle forwardly, arms 44 are caused to enter recesses 54 of gears 31-and 32 and are sustained' by lu s 55, said gearsthereby being connectedwit the drums. If, at this time, the eogs of gear 9 are enga Ving the cogs of both of ears 31 and 32, it Wi be seen that lthe revo uble movement of the driven gear 9 is caused by gear 32 of greater diameter, gear 31 at this time, not imparting any force. At this time, while gear 31 moves upon its shaft in the same direction as gear 32, it has a movement somewhat greater than gear 32, since it has a less number of teeth. At this time, arm 43 is `drawn Within recess 39, and gear 31 may, therefore, move faster than the drum vupon which it is mounted. As soon as the cogs of gear 9 pass from engagement of gear 32 and engages gear 31, arm 44 will engage one of lugs 55 Within a recess 54, since the force for driving gear 9 is sustained by said gear-31.

v The construction of gears 30 is of advantage for use in connection with vehicles since,

at the time of moving the vehicle upon curves, the swinging movement of each wheel-axle, at the outer side of the vehicle is in engagement with a gear of greatest diamo# ter of the serios o f gears 30, the gears of lesser diameter at the inner side of the vehicle being engaged by gears 9. Also, by use of this construction, power may be applied to all of the axles, and. the frietional tread or engagement of each wheel upon the ground, maybe utilized by the driving power. ent that the number of driving wheels in ears 3() is not limited to three, but an ar er number may be employed, as desire( hile the invention has been described in connection with a gear upon an axle hai'fing a swinging movement from a pivotal support, it is apparent that the operation of gears 30 would e the same Where a driven shaft is employed which. is longitudinally slidable,

the driven gear engagin the several ear- Wheels, as il ustrated 1n "ig 7, While sliding within a stationary support, and this construction Would f not be considered a .departure from the scope of the invention, since it is not important in what manner the driven gear is moved or presented to the plurality of driving gears 30. In Fig. 7, gear 9' is mounted upon shaft 65 longitudinally slidable in brackets 66, to cause its gear to be presented to gear 67 comprising a plurality of gear Wheels 68, 69 and 70 upon shaft 7 1,A

identical in construction to gear 30 and shaft 25 already described. In this last mentioned construction, shaft 65 is disposed arallel With the conical wall described by t e cogs of the several assembled gear wheels 68, 69 and 70, and shafts65 and 71 are disposed in angular relation with reference to each other. This construction is useful for manyV urposes, and requires no change in any o the gears. presenting gear 9 and 9. In the lirst instance this presentation is upon a swinging axle or sha t, and .in the lastinstance itis upon a slidable shaft. l

Having fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,- 1. In a gearing, the combination with a vehicle having ivotally mounted axles each having. an ax e-gear and a vehicle-wheel rigidly mounted upon its respective ends, of driving gears each comprising a plurality of gear wheels of greater and lesser diameters It simply relates to the manner ofI It is appar- 2. In combination, va gearing comprising a plurality of recessed bevel gears of greater and ofv lesser diameters disposed separately end-to-end upon a driving shaft; a driven pinion mounted upon a shaft, said shaft being movable to present said inion to each of said bevel gears; a recessed rum Within each recess of the bevel gears; means Within the recess of each drum and u on the driving shaft for allowing a greater egree of revoluble speed of a bevel gear of lesser diameter than the revoluble speed of an adj aeent bevel gear of greater diameter while said bevel gears are in engagement with the driven pinion.

3. In combination with a driven gear, a gearing as described, comrising a bevel gear of greater diameter; a p urality of recessed bevel gears of lesser diameters; said bevel meer@ gears disposed end-to-end upon a driving greater diameter While said bevel gears are 1n engagement Wlth the driven gear.

In testimony whereof l alix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

ALFRED N. ADAMS.

Witnesses:

HLRAM A. STUReEs, ALFRED ADAMS. 

